Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Set To Release Heavy Metal Album

Famed Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei‘s newest artistic endeavor is sure to raise eyebrows, if not provoke spontaneous head banging. The 55-year-old contemporary artist is set to release a heavy metal album, taking care of lyrics and vocal duties himself while calling on rock musician friend Zuoxiao Zuzhou for instrumental backing. The album, entitled Divina Commedia, was inspired by Ai’s 81 days of detention by the Chinese government in 2011. It will include two songs dedicated to Chen Guangcheng, the blind civil rights activist who escaped house arrest in his eastern Chinese village and eventually secured release to the U.S. for himself and his family. Another track, “Great Firewall of China,” criticizes the country’s notoriously effective Internet censorship system. The album, currently being mixed, will feature cover art from Ai.